Milton "Skip" Ohlsen had big plans for mixed martial arts in St. Louis. Now it seems hes down for the count.

Last month Benson says both his paychecks from Ohlsen bounced, leaving him out $1,000 in wages. Benson also discovered that Ohlsen's private life had taken an unpleasant detour, with his wife filing an order of protection following an incident at their Town & Country home. In a court statement dated December 10, 2007, Michelle Ohlsen alleges her husband "physically restrained and choked me ... the choking was to where I could not breathe and [my] vision was starting to grey."

Subsequent divorce filings show the couple carries credit-card debt of more than $82,000. The filing also listed Ohlsen's current place of residence as the downtown Westin. Last week a receptionist at the hotel said none of its guests were registered under the name "Ohlsen."

Earlier this month an anonymous author created a Web site dedicated to exposing other charges filed against Ohlsen, including federal drug-trafficking charges dating back to 1995. Moreover, it appears Ohlsen never bothered registering his Genesis MMA with the office of the Missouri Secretary of State, choosing instead to operate the company through his political consulting firm Global Management Solutions.

Tim Lueckenhoff, the administrator for the Missouri Athletic Commission, says he's familiar with Genesis MMA, but says his office has no record of Ohlsen applying for a license for the November and January fights, which never took place. "I'm surprised someone didn't call me," says Lueckenhoff. "At this point, there shouldn't be any confusion that you have to have a license for any professional MMA fight."

Meanwhile, Benson and others once associated with Ohlsen are wondering what other surprises may be in store. "I got to say I was blind-sided by all this," says Benson. "It's gotten to the point where I'm just going to pretend that my year spent working with Skip never happened."